HARRISBURG — A packed crowd celebrated the much-maligned but enduring mullet hairstyle Monday in a contest at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg.
The short-in-the-front, long-in-the-back coiffure, once the province of Canadian hockey players and hair metal bands, attracted about 150 competitors and more than a thousand spectators for the day’s “mane” attraction.
The top award, in the form of the rear bumper of a Corvette, went to 10-year-old Drew Fleschut of Dallas, Pennsylvania — who wore a red-and-black shirt in an homage to movie character Joe Dirt and carried Joe’s trademark mop.
Contestants were evaluated for the style of their cut, any props or accessories, their presentation and their overall sense of commitment, said judge Brittany Goldberg.
“This is for fun,” said Goldberg, owner of Heavy Metal Hair Salon in Philadelphia. “It’s about the camaraderie and everyone having a laugh and a good time.”
There were magic tricks, customized T-shirts and even a “skullet” — a mullet sported by a balding man. One kid didn’t want to leave the stage. Another took the occasion to pick his nose. Some danced the worm, some dabbed and a few ripped off their shirts, pro-wrestling style.
Brittni Williamson of Harvey’s Lake brought along her 3-year-old son Mason, who ended up with a mullet when the hair on the back of his head grew more quickly than the rest of his hair when he was a baby.
“We just clean it up in the front and keep the party going,” Williamson said. Mason didn’t win, but he did get to accomplish his New Year’s resolution by feeding a cow.
Ben Barley, 7, of Red Lion arrived at the event wearing a T-shirt featuring his name and the words “MULLET LIFE 6-7,” a nod to both his hairstyle and the bafflingly popular youth catchphrase. He said he’d been working on his mullet for two years.
Kyle Wertman said he was inspired to go with a mullet while watching old professional wrestling footage of Hacksaw Jim Duggan. He gets a lot of comments about it in his hometown of Murrysville.
“They like to fluff the curls in the back, ‘Look at this thing, it’s got a mind of its own,’” said Wertman, 43, who works in sales and service of industrial air compressors.
It’s taken Lancaster resident Brayden Shaner, 14, about four years to grow his mullet, which was good enough for third-place in the teenager category.
“I like it because it’s different,” he said. “You don’t see, walking through the grocery store, people with a mullet. I think the girls like it.”
Though mullets likely have been around longer than there have been barbers, the Oxford English Dictionary cites hip-hop legends the Beastie Boys for helping popularize the term mullet with the song “Mullet Head” on their 1994 recording, “Ill Communication.” As the venerable dictionary notes, it’s a term that is slang, humorous “and frequently derogatory.”
The contest, in its third year, is one of the few at the Pennsylvania Farm Show open to people who live outside the state.
